Fading Soul
by xXFireFistAceXx
Summary: Since Ayla got sick with a mystery illness she's been having strange dreams. But are they just dreams? or a whole other reality? rated T because who knows what could happen XD anyway i hope you like :D
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, I have re-written the first two chapters and have changed the illness. I was deciding between Dengue Fever, Swine Flu or a mystery disease. And thank you to innes aka idiot for your help and advice on that decision *hugs*. **

Ayla's P.O.V.

_A couple of days ago I found out I'm sick with a mysterious disease that no one knows about. Even the various doctors I've been to had no clue. So far I've been traveling back and forth from the hospital (I hate those places!) so that tests can be done and now I'm waiting for the rest of the results to come. I would have been diagnosed with just a normal fever or flu (some vomiting, increased body temperature, cough…) if it hadn't been for the purple, splotchy rash that cover's most of my arms and my throat (it's so annoying!). Man I've always hated being sick, it ties with going to school. But enough with that stuff; the other day…well night after I fell ill, I had a dream and every night since then I've been having the not-quite-same-dream; same place different events. I always 'wake up' on the same submarine or ship thing with the same people but they never notice me. I have a strange feeling that this isn't normal; even for an ill person, it all seems… real._

Ayla tucked her diary back in one of her open drawers bedside her and thumped back onto her bed, her head resting on her flat pillow (she hated fluffy ones). Her mum came in for probably the hundredth time that day to check on her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"The exact same as half an hour ago mum" Ayla answered, stressing the fact that her mother didn't have to come in so often. Sure she was sick but this was just ridiculous. She did need alone time. Her mother sighed and sat down on the bed stroking her daughter's hair all the while. Ayla saw that her mum had a sad look on her face. Whenever she got sick she'd stress out. Ayla tried to give her a reassuring smile, though it didn't work.

"I love you so much pumpkin." Her mother used the same nickname she had called her since she had been a child. Ayla sighed; she hated it when her mum called her that… she was 16 for goodness sake. Just then a wave of sickness washed over her and she grabbed the bucket next to her bed and threw up violently … although there was nothing left to throw up anyway because she couldn't keep anything down. Her mum had brought in some dry crackers and flat lemonade which were supposed to help with her stomach. Ayla lied back down, panting. Her mum took the bucket away to clean it. Ayla stared at the food and drink next to her and slowly closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep.

Ayla opened her eyes to see the bright sun… again. She sat up from the place she had ended up this time: in between two barrels sitting on the deck of the submarine, whenever it was under water she woke up in the sub instead. She was instantly better in her dream, no purple rash or temperatures. Ayla looked around, the sub was still at sea like the last time she was here. What she supposed were the crewmembers were all out on the deck soaking up sunlight. They all wore white jumpsuits except for a bear that was wearing an orange one. The bear was talking, as weird as it sounds, to two other members. A man with a hat that said penguin on it and another that had a pink and green cap reminding Ayla of a bubble.  
She stood near them listening in to their conversation for a while before getting extremely bored. They were discussing about talking bears. She got up and pretended to kick one of the barrels expecting her foot to go straight through it as usual. The barrels fell over with a loud crash and rolled over the entire place. Ayla jumped. 'What the hell?' her mind screamed 'I thought I wasn't solid' All the people on the ship stared silently at the barrels, confused as to what happened.

"What's going on?" someone said from the entrance to the sub. Ayla looked and saw the person she supposed was in charge… he did wear different clothes after all. He wore a white and black spotted fuzzy hat that reminded her of a beanie, a yellow and black hoodie with a picture of a smiley that was painted on the submarine as well, jeans with spots, and two earrings in each ear. His arms and hands were full of tribal style tattoos.

"Nothing cap'n, just some barrels that fell over." A man answered. One of the barrels rolled towards Ayla.

"I see," the captain replied looking at the mess Ayla had caused. "Fix it up please, we could lose some supplies." Ayla stepped out of the way of the barrel but tripped over something and fell on one of the people.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed as she went down.

"Something fell on me!" the person pushed her off him, a little freaked out. "There's someone on me!"

"Can't be there's no one there."

"Did you hear that?" The bear asked. "I heard a girl… maybe there's a girl bear."

"SHUT UP!" his crew mates yelled at him. The bear bowed his head and apologized. 'What the hell's happening? I thought I wasn't solid… and they couldn't hear me ten minutes ago' Ayla stood up slowly in case she did something again and backed away. She noticed that the man in the hoodie was staring straight at her… though she was sure he couldn't see her. Ayla stopped breathing in case they could hear that too. He stared for a moment longer than turned away. She began to move again, she walked around the hoodie man and entered the submarine. When she was sure she was far enough away and no one was around, she ran and hid in the closest unoccupied room which happened to be the store room.

Law's P.O.V

There was definitely someone on his submarine that he couldn't see; but he could sense the person. Law didn't like it.

"Take them down to the store room." He ordered indicating to the barrels. "Prepare to dive." He walked back inside the submarine thinking. Could the person have eaten a devil fruit resulting them in being invisible? It would be a very useful ability for a stowaway.

*Back to Ayla*

Ayla sat behind a group of barrels trying to figure out how to wake up when she heard footsteps coming her way. The door to the store room opened and she heard people dropping something heavy on the ground; it was probably those barrels from before. The door closed again and she was enveloped in darkness.

When Ayla opened her eyes she was back in her room lying in her bed. She immediately felt a churning in her stomach and grabbed the bucket her mum had brought back after cleaning it last time. Not much came out, just some bile. Her food was still there from before. She ignored it not wanting to eat anything; she would just chuck it up again anyway. Ayla reached into the drawer beside her, her hands latched into the hard cover of her diary. Ayla wrote about what had happened in her dream. It was starting to freak her out.


	2. Chapter 2

Ayla was annoyed; extremely annoyed. The doctor wanted her to go to the hospital, again. This time Ayla had flat out refused; she hated hospitals and was sick of having to go there constantly for tests. If there was any chance of her getting better at all, the hospital would ruin it for sure with its atmosphere. The place basically reeked of sickness and death to her; not her favourite atmosphere! Plus she swore they released a very small amount of sleeping gas in there. The place always smelt strange and made her sleepy, like her body was slowly shutting down. She hated the feeling, just hated it. So she was still stuck in her own room and bed only entertained by her dreams or dream. Whatever it was, it was starting to creep her out big time. But she also started finding them addictive for there she wasn't sick meaning she was able to walk around in the sun.

Her mum had come in earlier and left some crackers and flat lemonade for her in hopes she would eat. Of course that wasn't happening, the thought of food made her stomach churn. Ayla was lying on her bed facing away from the food to avoid throwing up even though there was nothing in her. She stared out her bedroom window at the world outside; a few of the kids from her street were playing soccer in the late afternoon sun on the road. Her street was quiet and not many cars ever really came up their way. As she stared out the window she wished she could be down there too, just like she used to before she got sick. One of the guys noticed her watching them; his name was Jake and Ayla's best friend since they were both 5.

He smiled and waved at her and she did back. He said something to the other 7 kids before coming over to her window. He tapped on it. Ayla slowly got out of bed, she slid the window across, now just the security screen separated them, and sat back on the bed.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

"Bleh" she stuck her tongue out in answer. He laughed.

"I'm not surprised. I heard they tried to get you in hospital for more tests."

"Yeah but I want to stay out of there as long as possible"

"Look, I know you don't like them and all but maybe you should consider going. You could get more medical attention there and increase your chances of getting better" Jake suggested.

"No, first they have to find out whats wrong with me and I've decided I'm not going back until ALL the results have come back from my previous tests." she said bluntly. He sighed at her stubbornness.

"C'mon man we're all worried about you! And I'm your best friend, could you at least consider going in for me?"

"No. Sorry Jake but you're not the one who always ends up in hospital from a broken arm or ribs. Which I still blame you for the last one by the way." She said flatly while itching her arms. "That place reeks of death and sickness and I can't stand being there. Besides if I went there I wouldn't be able to talk to you like I am now"

"I'd visit"

"You wouldn't be allowed, I know it." he sighed in annoyance.

"Ok, fine. I give up! You're too stubborn!"

"Good…" they stared at each other in an awkward silence.

"So just why are you blaming me for that last break?" he broke it.

"It was your idea to have a climbing race in that tree"

"But you didn't have to. You're the one who agreed to it"

"I still blame you" She grinned faintly, her eyes were teasing him.

"You look pale. You should lie down and sleep" when he mentioned sleep a hesitant look passed over her face but it was gone as quickly as it showed.

"That's all I've been doing"

"Well you look like you need more," Ayla nodded knowing he was right. She lay down on her bed facing him. "And close the curtains so we don't distract you with our game." He indicated to the soccer game happening behind him. It looked like little Emma (well not so little anymore seeing as 4 years had passed since she gained that name) had grazed her knee on the road. Ayla wouldn't be surprised, that girl was always tripping over.

Jace began to walk away when Ayla shouted out to him. "Ten bucks those midgets will beat you!" He turned back and waved goodbye.

"Go to sleep already!" she stuck her tongue out before sliding the window closed as well as her wolf adorned curtains. Her room was cast in semi darkness now as she lay down again. Ayla closed her eyes and her breathing evened out.

When she opened her eyes next she was in the store room where she had been last time. That meant the submarine must still be underwater. Ayla stood up; being careful not to make any noise. She remembered she was no longer able to walk through things. She was solid now but still invisible, so she hoped. Ayla slowly felt her way around the small store room for the door. It was pitch black and very hard to see. She ended up stubbing her toe on a barrel twice before reaching the door. Her hands felt around for the handle, she silently hoped it wasn't locked. There was no way she wanted to be stuck in here until she woke up next. A hand was stopped by a metal object sticking out of the door; Ayla figured it was the handle. She turned it slowly as not to make a noise. The door was thankfully unlocked and opened with ease, the hinges making a small squeaky sound. She closed it quietly behind her and wandered off along the hallways of the submarine. She was still yet to see what all the rooms held; Ayla would have gone through them all by now had she not decided to leave some for other visits. As she walked down the halls she noted what she remembered was inside each one from previous times. She walked past another storeroom, the kitchen or galley as she thought they were called on ships and subs, and what she came to the conclusion was a bed room shared by multiple people. If she remembered correctly there were 5 hammocks in there.

The contents of the room next to that one, however was still a mystery to her. She tested the door and it was unlocked, like all of the others. When she opened it however she was disappointed. It was another bedroom filled with another 4 hammocks and one bed. Ayla closed the door and walked down the hall. There was a flight of stairs going further down into the submarine which she followed. A faint noise could be heard down here, the engine room was probably just below this floor. Ayla opened the first door on the right. This time she wasn't disappointed with another bedroom but what looked like an infirmary and a place used for experiments. She made sure there was no one in there before entering. As she studied the contents of the room she couldn't help but be freaked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**You know what? I don't see the point in 'disclaimers'. Everyone who reads a One Piece fanfic knows that the author of the fanfic isn't Oda...why would he write a fanfic of his own story? it just doesn't make sense to me...**

**Was that confusing? Meh, nevermind on with chapter 3! XD**

Ayla looked around at the equipment. There was an X-ray machine, and things she didn't know the name of. There were also a couple of beds and operating tables. But that's not what had her freaked out; it was what she saw on display. There was a set of shelves above a cleared desk, with jars and containers. Some of them (not all) had body parts in them like hands, feet and many others. And as if that wasn't creepy enough they were moving, twitching in the jars. Ayla suddenly felt sick from the sight and almost threw up there and then. She looked away holding a hand over mouth; her dream seemed to be becoming a nightmare. She closed her eyes trying to calm her stomach down and get the images out of her head. But in her head she could still see them and she realised there was absolutely no blood on them; the body parts were clean of the dark red liquid. Just what was happening she didn't know and she was sure she didn't want to find out.

While Ayla was doing that she didn't hear the footsteps coming her way until the door was opened. Her eyes flew open and she quickly turned around completely forgetting about the body parts for a while. The man in the yellow and black hoodie entered and closed the door behind him. Ayla remained still as a statue when he walked right past her; he was so close she was lucky he didn't brush against her. She watched him lean back on the chair at the desk and pick up a scalpel after resting the large sword he had been carrying, against the desk.

*Law*

Trafalgar Law had a headache and needed some quiet. The 'surgeon of death' had never liked lots of noise and despite him telling the crew to shut up they wouldn't for very long. They were too excited that something interesting had happened on their unusually long voyage to the next island. There was a possible stowaway on the heart pirates submarine; an invisible one at that. His crew, after being bored for two weeks, kept on talking about what had happened the previous day and a lot were looking for the intruder. Law had found the bear, Bepo, sniffing around and had come to the conclusion that it wasn't a female bear. Poor Bepo was always being put down by his crewmates and enemies alike; his enemies more often than not. Law chuckled at the thought of his bear crewmember as he walked down the halls of his submarine towards the infirmary; his nodachi was resting over his shoulder.

Law closed the door of the infirmary behind him and smiled at the silence. It wasn't that he didn't like talking, it was just a lot of it annoyed him and usually gave him a headache. The exact reason he was here. Law sat down at his desk and leaned against the chair before picking up a scalpel; he started fiddling around with it absentmindedly. His mind drifted back to yesterday's incident for the second time that afternoon. It made him uneasy that there was someone unknown on his submarine; they could be spies from the marines but that didn't seem likely. He was only a rookie pirate still, even if he had a bounty of over 100, 000,000 berri. But then again you never knew what the marines or world government were planning. Then there was, of course, the usual and most likely reason for stowaways; someone just wanting a free ride or a refugee. Law doubted the refugee theory though; he had been to no island yet where there could possibly be any. Law smirked, it didn't matter; he'd find out soon enough, the intruder couldn't stay hidden forever. And when they did come out of hiding…

Law was interrupted from his thoughts by tapping noise from above him; a hand was tapping on one of the jars. Law reached his own hand up, grabbed the jar and walked over to the large cupboard next to one of the beds. He shoved it in there but froze, scalpel still in hand, when he heard a loud thud to his right. His cold smile crept across his face.

*Ayla*

Ayla stood perfectly still or as still as a person could stand. She watched the man just sitting there, playing with a scalpel. He was quiet and just seemed to be deep in thought about whatever this guy preferred to think about. Ayla switched her gaze to the long sword, out of all the swords she'd seen (not many either) this one would have to be the biggest and longest. The sheath was a navy blue colour and had white crosses along it; just before the white and fluffy looking hilt there was thick red string wound around it. Beneath the hilt where it would be held when used, was a greyish colour and had a diamond pattern going down it. She silently wondered what the man would use it for and why he would have it in the first place.

She stood there for what seemed like forever to her, trying to keep every breath quiet; Ayla was afraid that he would hear her in the silence of the room. The door was shut so she couldn't get out without alerting him to her presence, not that it changed much if she did try to get out with the door open; he'd still hear her footsteps. She swayed a bit _'oh no, please not right now…' _she thought _'why am I the only person I know who can't stand still without falling over?' _she slightly shifted her foot to regain her balance and tried to stay focused on keeping still. After a few seconds she swayed again. _'Dammit, keep still' _she commanded herself and shifted her other foot slightly. Ayla glanced at the man in case she may have made a noise; it didn't seem so, so she relaxed a bit. The problem with her balance could have had something to do with her being tense for too long for all she knew.

A tapping sound brought her focus to the shelves; instantly she wished she hadn't looked. Ayla felt sick again when she saw the body parts, this time one of the hands was actually _tapping_ on the jar. _Tapping!_ To her it was like seeing something from a thriller or horror movie. The man reached a tattooed hand up and grabbed the jar. Ayla studied the tattoos; there was a letter on each finger spelling 'DEATH' when put together. Then there was some weird looking tribal style tattoo on the back of his hand and another, larger, one on his arm.

She was freaked out that he didn't seem to care there was a moving body part that was NOT attached to a limb, in a jar. She carefully watched as he got up from the chair to place the jar in a cupboard. Ayla swayed again and tried to steady herself but tripped over her own feet. She fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Realising what had just happened she stayed still, she even held in her breath. The last thing she wanted was for the man to know her exact spot. She didn't like the fact that he still had a scalpel in his hand.

"I know your there" he said. She still didn't move. Ayla heard the cupboard being closed and his footsteps coming in her direction. She risked shifting her head as quietly as possible to look behind her. The man had stopped right at the end of her feet and was staring right down at her. Panic took hold of Ayla and she leapt to her feet suddenly not caring. The man grabbed at the 'air' but missed as she threw the door open and ran out.

Ayla ran up the stairs she had come down earlier and through the halls of the submarine. She looked behind her when she heard footsteps. The tattooed man was running after her, he was also carrying his sword over his shoulder. She faced forwards again and squeaked in surprise when the man with the balloon hat was in front of her. She dodged around him barley avoiding tripping over.

"Eh? What was that?" balloon hat asked and looked around.

"The invisible stowaway. Find her" she heard the man command.

"Captain, we can do that later…" the balloon man trailed off at seeing the other's glare. "Marines have been trailing us!" he said quickly.

And that was all Ayla heard as she ran into the nearest open room in hopes of hiding.

**Hmmm, I hope that chapter was alright...there wasn't much talking XD Review?**

**By the way, I'm re-writing the first two chapters. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took so long to get the chapter done. I was busy with school but now I'm on holiday :D I was planning to get as many chapters done these holiday's as possible but I'm going away for four weeks. I'm starting year 11 next year and will be very busy (even on the holidays 'cause we get assignments during the holidays D: at my school you do anyway...) So I guess this story will be slow to update D: I'm sorry. **

She wasn't in luck; there were two people…well one person and a bear in what looked to be the control room for the submarine. She froze again, for who knew how many times that day. _'Great…of course I'm the one who would choose a NON empty room…' _she thought to herself glumly. Ayla turned around to go hide somewhere else but almost ran into the man with the sword. He was blocking the door way with the balloon hat guy behind him.

"How long have they been trailing us?" He asked.

"We're not sure captain but it seems to have been a while." The man with the penguin hat informed the other man. Ayla backed up against the wall in case the captain decided to move further into the room and if he and the balloon hat did then she'd be able to get out without being detected.

The captain thought for a while before asking another question. "How big is their vessel?"

"It's not a battle ship, just average size" the bear said, he had a deep voice. Ayla still found it weird the bear could talk, she loved bears but it was just plain weird. The captain thought for a moment longer before a smile that didn't reach his eyes spread across his face.

"I think we need some exercise after two weeks" he said. The others caught on and grinned, even the bear! "Kiga, take us up; Benji, go alert the other men." Both nodded.

"Aye captain!" they chanted in unison. The balloon hat, Benji, ran off while the other moved some gears. Ayla almost lost balance when the submarine began moving up to the surface; she put a hand against the wall for support.

"Bepo" the bear looked at the captain walking away and, to Ayla's relief, leaving the doorway unblocked. The bear followed enthusiastically leaving the room empty except for Kiga and of course Ayla. Ayla slipped out the door and looked around. The bear was going up stairs to the top level of the submarine, no doubt following the captain. _'Ok then I just won't go that way.' _She thought and went in the opposite direction.

Ayla was caught off guard when at least six men ran up the hall of the submarine she was following. She pressed herself to the side so she wouldn't be trampled. One of them grazed against her, she froze and watched him head up to where the bear had disappeared too, but not without looking back. She hoped he thought he had imagined it. To her relief he faced forward again and disappeared after the others. Ayla ran down the hall looking for that storage room she had been in earlier. When she reached the door she was sure was it, she turned the handle.

It was locked, to her dismay. Her safe hiding place was locked. She groaned, closing her eyes and fell forward, purposely banging her head against it. The clanging noise ran through the submarine making her eyes fly open at the realization of what she did. Ayla tensed and quickly whipped her head left and right making sure no one was there to hear. But by the sounds of whatever was happening outside, nobody would have heard anyway.

Ayla could hear lots of yelling and screaming from above as well as heavy footsteps of people running. There was a loud clang as if someone had been slammed into the floor or wall of the submarine. Ayla frowned; whatever was happening up there seemed interesting but dangerous too. Ayla's curiosity wanted her to go up those stairs to the floor above and watch what was happening. But her common sense argued with her curiosity. _'Curiosity killed the cat'_ common sense argued with curiosity _'but no one ever discovered anything without being curious' _curiosity argued back. This argument continued to go on inside Ayla's head for another 5 minutes. As each minute passed her curiosity grew stronger until it won. Her hand sliding off the locked door, she made her way down the hall towards the stairs where everyone had disappeared earlier.

She didn't bother treading quietly, there was so much noise above no one would notice any unfamiliar footfalls right? As she neared the top she heard some shouts about severed talking heads or something along those lines. At the top, the submarine's door was open revealing an odd fight seen. There were limbs everywhere, yet there was no blood and they were still moving just like the ones in the jars. Some were even attached to other limbs and body parts creating strange and creepy things. Once again Ayla felt sick at the sight, though this was probably worse than the jar incident, and yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from what was happening.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" There was a loud battle cry coming from her right, there were men dressed in blue and white uniforms with caps. They were the ones with the battle cry as they jumped onto the submarine while swinging swords around dangerously. Ayla watched as the polar bear leaped at them and kicked rapidly; it looked like some kind of martial arts. So not only was the bear able to talk but it was trained to fight as well; something was just not right there…

A blue sphere that had appeared caught Ayla's attention away from the bear and body parts on the ground. In the middle was the captain of the submarine; he was pulling the large sword out of its sheath with a grin that sent shivers down her spine on his face. She noticed the people in the blue and white uniforms were opposite him and looking very scared. Ayla watched in horror as the man swung the sword a few times in different directions and the men opposite him were cut into pieces.

Their limbs floated around the sphere; a yelling and screaming head of a man floated right past Ayla who stepped back further into the doorway.

"Shambles." She heard the man with the sword say. Instantly on this command the body parts started rapidly moving around the sphere and attaching themselves to other body parts. She saw a torso with two screaming heads being attached to it and then a foot with…fingers? She looked away from the odd, freaky sight and saw that there were no other uniformed people; they were all either in pieces, unconscious on the ground or put together in weird ways….she even thought some were dead.

Suddenly Ayla let out a reflexive scream as something crawled over her bare feet and when she looked she saw it was a hand pulling itself across her. She kicked it away without thinking. She froze as she head thumping sounds from in front of her and looked up to see the joined body parts fall to the ground as the blue sphere had disappeared.

"I can't move!" One of them shouted.

"Whose legs are these?" Another one asked.

"Mine." The head attached to a gun opposite him said. Ayla tuned them out as she noticed that the crew of the submarine was all looking in her direction. The captain looked from 'her' down to the hand that she'd kicked then back. When he looked back up he had a smile, no, a smirk on his face; one that sent shivers down Ayla's spine.


	5. Chapter 5

"Room," Law said and a blue sphere encased him and the blurred figure standing in the entrance to his submarine. He smirked, _'got you'_ he thought.

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Ayla looked at the blue sphere surrounding her and the man. It seemed that it was him that was creating them; after all he was always in the middle of them. But what she wanted to know was: how? But she could figure that out later, she felt a pulling sensation and in a blink she was standing in front of the man in the yellow and black hoodie, dazed. Her mind was too slow to realise what had happened until the man reached out to grab hold of her. Snapping out of her daze she bit the man's hand when it came too close.

The man yelled in surprise and pulled his hand back but recovered surprisingly quickly. Ayla turned to run but he reached out again and managed to grab hold of her hair. This time it was Ayla's time to yell as her hair was pulled.

"I've got you this time." There was triumph in the man's voice. She automatically grabbed onto his hand that held her and tried to, as unpainful as possible, pry his hand off. His other hand grabbed hold of hers in a tight, vice like grip. Ayla struggled to get away but found it impossible to get away from this man's incredible strength. She kicked at him and managed to hit him in the shin.

"Kiga!" The man yelled, "Grab her legs." He commanded.

"Aye Captain!" The man in the penguin hat came over and he was kicked as well. Kiga grunted and grabbed hold of the leg that had kicked him. Ayla lost balance and fell over, she was lucky the captain had let go of her hair however now her arms were held in an awkward and uncomfortable position.

Kiga quickly grabbed hold of Ayla's other leg before she could aim a kick again. Ayla thrashed her body around to try and get out of both mans bruising grips.

"Let go of me!" She screeched at them but not without fear mixed into her voice. She tried biting the man holding her wrists but her she missed her head fell back and hit the captain's legs. While she continued twisting and turning, another man came over carrying rope; he tried and failed to successfully bind Ayla's legs.

"Hold her still!" he said trying again.

"I'm trying!" Kiga answered back annoyed. While Ayla focused on staying untied she didn't notice the captain's leg draw back behind her or a thin chain pulling against her neck. The chain snapped and darkness took over as the captain kicked the back of her head.

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Law felt the blurred girl go limp in his grip. Kiga and Benji looked at him for a moment.

"Well that's better…Thanks captain." Benji said, starting on her ankles.

"No need for that, just do her wrists." Law ordered and dropped her none too gently on the deck. Benji nodded and did just that. "And when you're done put her in the spare room." He was about to walk away when he noticed a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. Lying on the deck was a gold necklace. He briefly noted that the chain was broken _'must've come off during the struggle with that girl' _he thought but didn't linger on that for long; he stared at the familiar pendant attached to the chain. It was the exact same as the tattoos on his arms. He frowned at it and picked it up to look more closely.

It was almost the exact same necklace that he had lost a couple years ago; the only difference was that the pendant was attached to a gold chain and not a piece of black cord. However it was always possible to switch it. Could that girl somehow have found it? Law wasn't aware that there was another one in the world just like his. An old relative back in his hometown was a jeweller **(A/N I'm not sure what the name of the person is who actually makes jewellery so please tell me if I'm wrong!) **and had specially made the pendant for him when he was younger. So what was the chance of there being an identical one? Frowning, Law placed it in his jeans pocket; he'd have to ask the girl about it later.

Law turned to look at the gruesome sight from the fight with the marines. Walking along the deck, he scanned the body parts of the still alive marines; he was checking for anything he could add to his 'study of the human body' collection as he called it. He noticed some of his men were taking anything of value from the parts of both the living and dead before throwing the dead bodies overboard.

Law bent over a torso and, after creating a blue sphere, cut open the body to take the insides. He held a still beating heart, a stomach and a liver in his hands. He then turned to his men.

"Put them back on their ship." He commanded, indicating to the cut up and stuck together marines. "After all I need some of them to survive." He said referring to his 'collection'.

"Aye captain!" they chorused and set about fulfilling their beloved captain's orders. Law went inside the heart pirate's submarine and made his way to the infirmary. He took some spare jars out of the small cupboard attached to his desk and placed the organs inside them. After wiping his hands and the jars clean of blood he placed them on the shelf above him and threw the bloody cloth in the bin.

Law emerged out onto the deck again to see if his crew had finished their task yet. To his relief they had and were now lounging around and talking about the recent events of both the marine attack and the finally caught not-so-invisible-anymore stowaway girl. They all noticed Law come out and immediately quietened down, waiting for an order. He noted that Benji and Kiga were back before speaking.

"Get ready to dive." He stated and watched his crew get to work. Law sighed, when he noticed a sleeping Bepo. He went over to the sleeping polar bear and nudged him gently a couple times with his shoe. Bepo drowsily opened his eyes and looked at his captain.

"We're going to dive shortly, I suggest you head inside." He said with his cocky smile on his face.

"Aye aye captain!" Bepo got up and did just that. Law followed behind the last of his crew to go inside and headed to the control room where Kiga was preparing to submerge the submarine. He sat down next to him.

"Hey Captain Law, why do you think that girl stowed away on our submarine? Of all the vessels she could have chosen why do you think it was a submarine?"

Law shrugged. "Who knows, maybe she's a spy. Being able to turn invisible would certainly be useful in that situation. However if that's not the case then-"

"She chose the wrong ship to board." Kiga finished with a smirk.

**YES! I got it done! :D I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit confusing, I'm not sure if it is or isn't so I'm sorry if it is! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh wow I updated this pretty quickly XD not to mention its the longest chapter yet! :D Anyway IMPORTANT! READ: OK FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THIS FROM WHEN I FIRST UPLOADED THIS I SUGGEST YOU GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER. I HAVE FINALLY RE-WRITTEN IT AND UPLOADED IT. SO FOR THINGS TO MAKE A BIT MORE SENSE READ THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS BEFORE READING THIS. THANKYOU ;D**

******And that, that notice is over on with the story!**

Ayla stirred and slowly opened her eyes; well at least she thought she had opened her eyes, it was pitch black. She blinked to confirm that they were indeed open _'Great, I've either gone blind or I'm in an extremely dark room…' _She thought to herself sitting up. Her back hurt like she'd been sleeping on a hard floor which, she supposed by the feel of cold metal beneath her, she had. Not to mention she had a massive headache, was shivering (the room was cold!), and had her hands tied together (at the front) to add on. In her opinion -despite being the most eventful trip yet- this was the worst trip to this dream world of hers. Not only had she become solid but apparently she had become visible as well! And all that had done was get her into trouble with the psychopathic captain of the submarine.

She shuddered at the memory of the moving body parts and organs in the jars. Just remembering what she saw that man do made her feel queasy and lightheaded. Ayla slowly leaned back, she wasn't sure if there was a wall or anything at all behind her. When she didn't feel a wall she scooted back a bit until her back connected with the cool metal. There she sat, in her pyjama shorts and an over large t-shirt, huddled in a shivering ball. After a while she started humming a tune to herself.

Ayla sat there for who knew how long before her head snapped up in realisation. Why hadn't she woken up in her own comfy bed at home? Usually if she fell asleep in her dream world she'd instantly wake up to see the roof of her room and –depending on how long she slept and woke up – the morning sun. So why was she still here? Stuck in a dark, cold, metallic room? Fear washed through Ayla as she thought of all the possible, yet impossible situations she could be in. What if this was actually a real place and not just a dream, like she had suspected, and now she was stuck here, forever? How worried would her mum be when she tried to wake Ayla up to find that she wouldn't? Ayla knew her mother would freak out and become ill herself. She knew that all her mums stress over her being sick was making her mother ill as well even though she denied it whenever Ayla brought the subject up. Was her body in a coma to be put on life support at a hospital and then taken off when they realised she wasn't ever going to wake up? Or heck, had her heart stopped beating already? Or maybe even, as odd and impossible as it sounded, her body had started fading away seeing as she was becoming more and more solid and clear here?

There were too many 'If's' and 'Why's' and 'maybe's'. These thoughts continued to circle around Ayla's mind over and over again; each time her fear growing and taking over. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to overflow; she didn't want to be here at all. She hadn't asked for this nor wanted it. All she wanted was to be at home in her room with that annoying, purple itchy rash. After all it wouldn't be there forever like she could be here.

Her thoughts paused on that particular thought of being here forever. For all she knew the people on this submarine could come back and kill her. Or that psycho captain guy might cut her up into pieces and put her body parts in jars. She'd just end up in that grotesque collection of his.

Ayla was so caught up in her paranoid thoughts that she almost missed the worried yelling and hurried footsteps running past her prison. She looked up and saw a sliver of light coming into the room from next to her. She realised she had been sitting next to the door the whole time. However she didn't have enough time to see the insides of the room she was in before she unwillingly figured out just how far it is from her side to the other. There was a loud bang of something against metal and she was sent to the other side of the room and her head hit the wall, it didn't help the headache she already had.

"Shit!" she screamed as pain coursed through her head; Ayla held it as best she could with her hands tied. "Ow…" she whimpered, hot tears wanting to spill. She heard someone stop outside her room. She vaguely wondered if she had a concussion.

"Hey captain what about the girl? I think she's awake!" She heard someone say.

"I'll deal with her later, first we have to lose this seaking!" Ayla supposed that was the psycho captain who answered considering he was the one spoken too.

"Right captain!" The man outside her door ran off; she listened to his fading footsteps. There was another bang, though louder this time as Ayla realised that whatever was causing the noise had hit the side of the submarine she was in. She was sent to the other side of the room again, though only her back hit the door this time. She remembered hearing something about a seaking attack, whatever that was. So maybe that's what was hitting the submarine around like a ball. _'It must be freaking huge! Like a sea monster or something.' _She thought while sitting up. _'I definitely don't want to be stuck in a place with sea monsters!'_

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Trafalgar Law hurried threw the hallways of his submarine; he distantly noticed that his crew was running around securing things and checking for any critical damage that the sub might have taken. It would seem that a Seaking had its mind set on making the submarine and its inhabitants its dinner. Law turned into what you could call the submarines 'foyer' and hurried up the stairs into the control where Kiga was.

"Can we go any faster?" He asked the penguin hat wearing man.

"I'm trying but any faster and we might over work the engine."

"We'll risk it then."

"But-" Kiga was cut off when Bepo came running into the room.

"Captain we have leak!" He informed Law.

"Well get James to patch it up!" He answered annoyed. Bepo nodded and ran off to find the bearded man. Law closed his eyes for a moment to calm down; he was barely listening to Kiga rambling on about how disastrous it would be for the heart pirates if their submarines engine was over worked. When he opened his eyes next they noticed something on the sub's radar.

There was a crevice not too far away and according to the radar it was big enough for their submarine but too small for the seaking that was chasing them.

"Kiga, why didn't you head to there in the first place?" Law pointed to it. Kiga looked.

"Sorry captain I didn't notice it before." Kiga realigned the submarine with the crevice. The shape that represented the seaking came closer again and hit the submarine. Law almost lost his balance and Kiga was thrown out of his chair. He stood up and righted his penguin hat. Law could faintly hear some of his crew shouting about another leak in the background; anymore and they'd all drown.

He noticed that when Kiga had been thrown off, the submarine had been sent off course. Law quickly righted it again and increased the speed.

"Whoa hey Captain, be careful, it would suck if the engine broke just before we get in there!" Kiga warned as he took his place on the chair again. Law had a straight face on and ignored Kiga who sighed when he realised his captain wasn't listening.

The seaking shape on the radar was coming at them and was looking like it planned to swallow them this time and not hit them like previously.

Kiga looked up at his captain worriedly "Captain we're-"

"Safe." Law had his usual cocky smirk on again as he watched the submarine enter the crevice and the seaking stop chasing its prey. Kiga looked at the radar and sighed in relief. "Turn the lights on." Law said as he slowed the submarine down to its usual speed. On the outside of their submarine where two large lanterns on either side for situations like this.

"Aye captain!" Kiga said enthusiastically, he was happy that he wasn't going to be a seaking's dinner just quite yet.

Law didn't say anything and left to go to the captain's quarters. He felt like sleeping and couldn't really be bothered dealing with that girl just quite yet.

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Ayla sat still for a while waiting for more bangs. When none came she stood up and squinted around the room. The light had been left on outside and just lit up the room enough that she could see the outline of everything. It was a small room with not much in it; just an old bed frame with no mattress _'that must've been what hit me the third time…'_ Ayla thought annoyed while looking at it, the bed frame had definitely moved in all the bashing around because it was now almost in the middle of the small room on an angle. The only other thing in the room-and also had just enough room for - was an empty barrel which had also rolled around. _'Or maybe that was what hit me…'_ Ayla squinted at it. Well whatever had hit her sure did hurt. Now she had a bruised head, back and a very sore left arm from the moving object.

Ayla sighed and looked at the door, she couldn't even believe she was considering trying the handle, there would be no doubt that it was locked but even so there was always a small chance they hadn't locked it. They were underwater after all and if she did get out of the room she couldn't do much with her hands tied together. And even if they were above water and she made it outside, it's not like she was going to jump overboard. Not with there being possible sea monsters. So maybe they hadn't bothered locking it with knowing those facts?

Ayla reached her hands up and felt around for the door handle; even though there was some light in the room now the door was still in complete darkness. The palm of her hand rested around the cool handle and pulled down. Ayla let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding until then. The door was locked just as she thought. She sighed and sat down in the middle of the room but not before attempting to push the bed frame out of the way with her shoulder. It was a massive fail.

Her feet were freezing from the metal floor so Ayla tried to keep them warm by sitting in a ball with her oversized blue t-shirt covering them. She really hated this room, it was cold, still pretty much dark and not to mention very boring. Ayla's thoughts began to wander back to the possibility of being stuck here forever. She shook her head and banged it on her knees _'No! Don't think of that it won't help you Ayla. I have to find something to do…'_ desperately she ran thoughts through her head on things she could possibly do in this room to cure her boredom and keep her thoughts occupied.

The rope around her wrists was starting annoy her and make the skin sore. Her head shot up with an idea. Scooting over more into the sliver of light from the door, she looked at the rope binding her wrists. It wasn't overly thick so maybe if she chewed on it long enough it would break or at least come loose? It was worth a try she figured. And if she did get her hands free maybe she could somehow get out of the cold room and find a warm place to hide until they hit land. It would certainly be better than staying in here.

And so Ayla sat there in the metallic room chewing and pulling at the rope for what felt like hours. Ever so slowly it became looser and felt more comfortable; however from all the pulling, she had received some rope burn. Her mouth was very dry and hurting but she kept at it just for something to do. After about 3 hours - though it felt a lot longer – she gave the rope another hard tug with her mouth and strained her wrists against it. And finally, to Ayla's relief, it broke.

She rubbed her sore wrists and rested her mouth for a moment before breaking out into a huge grin. And now she just had to make a plan. Her stomach rumbled. _'and some food….'_ She hadn't realised just how hungry she was until that moment. Sighing she stood up, stretched, and walked over to the door.

**Hm, I wasn't sure if Law's submarine would be wood inside or metal. I'm pretty sure submarines are usually metal (plus it makes sense to me) so I just went with that. And I've been going through the One Piece chapters with Law's crew in it to try and figure out how many are in it and what they look like. I counted about 10-11 (including Jean Bart). If you want to know who James is then look at One Piece chapter 580, page 3, he's the man in the bottom right hand corner with the beard and headband XD (only do that if you read the manga of course). **

**I don't know if that was a boring chapter or not but its setting some stuff up for the future so its an important chapter! ;D Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**OH MY GOSH O_O Another quick update *can't believe it* I am on a roll here people! XD I wonder how many more I can get out before monday (school starts) lol XD And I wrote all this in one night XD and it's now 2am exactly so I'm going to bed.**

**Enjoy! :D**

Ayla brought her foot back and aimed a kick at the metal door. The impact hurt her foot and a loud clanging noise echoed through the submarine. She had a plan, probably a not very good one but still it was a plan! She kicked the door again. She had figured that if she kept kicking the door it would irritate somebody at least and attract their attention. They would, hopefully, open the door and when they did she would run out and find a hiding spot and if possible make a stop at the kitchen first. She'd have to be fast and she still hadn't figured out where she would hide. She decided she didn't like the storeroom - even though it would be a smart idea considering there was food there- because it was cold to keep the food and beverages cool. And she wouldn't be able to hide in the two shared bedrooms, nor the kitchen and definitely not the bathroom! Not to mention she refused to go anywhere near that infirmary place again! She shuddered at the thought. However there were still a few doors she hadn't looked behind so perhaps she would find a hiding spot there.

Ayla continued to kick at the door, each time hurting her foot more and more. She swapped her kicking foot to give the other a rest. At least 5 minutes had passed and nobody had come yet, if she had too she'd start yelling out. Her leg was getting tired which was not a good thing if she was planning on running so she started hitting the door. With the first hit, she made the mistake of hitting metal with her knuckles '_ow, ow , ow!' _she shook her hands and curled them up into a fist once more. However this time she hit it with the side of her fists.

She continued on like this until she heard footsteps and an annoyed person's muttering coming her way. Grinning she decided to yell out.

"OI!" She banged harder.

"Will you stop that already! You're giving me a headache you bitch!" The man on the other side yelled out none to nicely. If Ayla remembered correctly, it sounded like the man in the penguin hat, Kiga was it?

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It was about the middle of the night when it started; a banging noise echoing throughout the submarine. Kiga rolled over in his hammock and put a pillow over his head to block out the noise. To his dismay the pillow wasn't doing its job very well at all, damn his body for being a light sleeper. Groaning tiredly he sat up and looked around, nobody else seemed to hear it and was still fast asleep, sometimes Kiga was jealous of the rest of the crew who seemed to be deep sleepers, especially Bepo. Kiga sighed annoyed and got out of his hammock, pulling his favourite penguin hat on and shoes he went outside to find the source of his now forming headache.

Once out in the hallway he clearly heard it coming from the room where the stowaway girl was being held until further notice. Grumpy he stomped his way to the captain's room to tell Law about the annoying girl. He stopped outside it and knocked on the door. He knew his captain didn't like to be woken up but he really needed to deal with that girl and soon! He heard a muffled "what?" and then some footsteps before the door opened to reveal captain Law.

His northern style hat was missing and his short, black hair was very messy as well as shirtless and shoeless. Yep he had definitely been asleep, and the expression written on his face told Kiga that whatever it was it had better be important!

"What is it?" He asked slightly grumpy, his cold, grey eye's bore into Kiga's.

"Captain, the girl is banging on the door." He informed the surgeon of death. Law seemed to listen for a minute and sighed annoyed. Law turned back into his room.

"You go and shut her up and I'll be there in a minute." He told him while putting his boots on.

"Right away captain!" Kiga said enthusiastically and went to do just that. Before he left he heard Law muttering something about not being able to fall asleep again with that racket.

As Kiga stomped down the hallway he heard her call out.

"OI!" She yelled very loudly. His eye twitched, he couldn't take the banging and now she was yelling? He'd had enough!

"Will you stop that already! You're giving me a headache you bitch!" He snapped at her and stopped outside the door. As he began to unlock it the banging stopped. "'Bout time…" he muttered under his breath and opened the door.

Only to be kicked down below and have the brat run out past him. He bent over in pain, cursing and grabbed onto the door frame for support. Not too long after Law approached him fully dressed with his nodachi over his shoulder.

He frowned when he saw Kiga and instantly realised what had happened.

"Captain she got out." Kiga grunted.

"I can see that." He sighed annoyed. "Wake the others and get them to help find her." He looked at the in pain Kiga. "A.S.A.P" He walked off too find the troublesome stowaway.

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When Ayla heard Kiga start unlocking the door she instantly stopped and stepped to the left. Her heart was pounding against her chest and adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her hands were sore and more than likely red from repeatedly hitting the door nevertheless she ignored the pain.

As soon as the door was opened she made her move. Not even bothering to actually look at the man and see if it was Kiga, she aimed a kick where it hurt and took off past him. She didn't even look behind her to see if he had possibly followed; though after that she doubted he would for a few minutes. As she ran she couldn't help but notice that there were no crew members about. It must've been late at night then she decided. However she didn't slow down and turned a corner while she quickly tried to remember the way to the kitchen.

After wasting time looking in a couple of the wrong rooms -hey she wasn't that familiar with the submarine yet- she eventually found the kitchen. She looked around and saw a bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. _'That'll have to do.' _Ayla grabbed a pear and an apple when she heard lots of voices and running footsteps. _'Shit! The rest must have been alerted' _she grabbed another pear quickly when she heard a couple coming her way. She ran out of the kitchen and, just to her luck, was spotted by the two men; one was wearing a cap and had a curly moustache while the other was wearing a headband around his head and had a bushy beard. She instantly ran down the hall with the two men chasing after her; they were saying something about ghosts. She turned the corner sharply and almost slipped over on the metal floor but quickly regained her balance.

Then to her horror more of the submarines crew were coming around the next corner, blocking her way though they had yet to see her. Neither being able to go back or forward she ran into the closest room, not really caring whether it was a cold storeroom or the infirmary any more. She stopped and looked around, her heart fell. _'Well isn't it just my luck to choose _this_ particular room?_' she thought grimly as she quietly shut the door but not all the way.

In the room there was one bed with messy sheets as if someone had just got out of them, a desk in the left corner opposite the bed, some shelves on the wall filled with what looked like medical books, and an open cupboard filled with who knew what. She heard the men coming and did the first thing that came to mind: hid under the bed. She knew it was probably the most idiotic thing she could have ever done in this sort of situation but she couldn't help it, it was a natural reaction from her.

Ayla made sure there was no part of her body poking out that could be seen. She watched as the first two men ran past and then the next group. Luckily neither seemed to think of looking in what Ayla guessed was the psychopathic captain's room, a room she hadn't yet been into until now.

She figured now would be a good time to eat and took a bite out of the pear. As she did she noticed her hands were shaking from the chase, she could still feel the adrenalin moving throughout her body. She continued to eat the pear and then the next pear. By the time she had gotten to the apple all the running and yelling had died down, _'They've given up, what a relief!' _she thought letting out a sigh of relief; her heart had finally slowed to its normal pace. _'Now to figure out how to get out of here. At least it's warmer than that room.'_

Ayla was about to take a bite out of her apple when the creak of the door reached her ears. Slowly and carefully she lifted her head up away from the apple and watched as a pair of boots attached to spotted jeans walked into the room. The captain shut the door and slid off his boots before sitting on the bed; Ayla could feel the very annoyed aura coming off of him. Now, she decided, would be a very bad time to be found out. Every muscle in her body froze as he lay down on the bed; she had to lower her head quickly before it got hit from the weight on top.

She lay without moving for what felt like ages, she wasn't even sure if she was breathing. She was too busy trying to stay quiet and listen to his breathing. She was waiting for it to become regular so she knew he was asleep. Though it was hard she finally thought she heard the sound of him sleeping. She needed to eat still as well as get out.

She raised the apple to her mouth and was about to take a small bite when she heard a smooth voice above her that sent shivers down her spine.

"Just how long are you planning to hide under my bed miss?"

**Hehehe I felt like being evil ;P**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok after this chapter I don't know when I'll update next because school starts again on monday T_T**

Ayla's body froze up, even her breathing stopped. _'I thought he was asleep!' _her eyes widened.

"There's no point in pretending you're not there, I know you are." She saw the captains feet as he placed them on the ground, he was getting up. Suddenly Ayla was able to move again, she dropped the apple and bolted out from under the bed and launched herself at the door. It was the quickest she had ever moved however she wasn't fast enough. In a flash she was slammed up against the wall, her feet dangling in the air, she never knew someone could move so fast! She brought her hands up to the man's own strong hand which was wrapped her throat, choking her. He had that cocky smirk of his on his face, it made him look dangerous and certainly somebody who could be very nasty if they wanted to. She made the mistake of looking into his grey eyes; as soon as she did she averted them.

"You've been very annoying tonight and testing my patience," he glanced at her hands. "I see you've managed to get your hands free, maybe we shouldn't have used rope after all." He laughed. The sound of his voice scared her, and his laugh sounded sinister. Ayla tried to breathe but found it rather difficult with his hand around her throat. She pulled and scratched his hand but it didn't budge, black spots started to cloud her vision.

And then he dropped her. Ayla took in a deep breath while rubbing her throat. She didn't get to relax for long though as he grabbed the back of her neck with his thumb and index finger. Instantly her body went rigid, she sucked a breath in. Wincing she was made to stand up.

"Now miss, you're going to come with me and if you try anything funny I'll kill you." He told her calmly with that smile of his still on his face. She tried to nod but that only caused her pain. He led her towards the door but not before digging around in his cupboard for something. Suddenly she asked him something she wanted to know, although the answer was pretty obvious she couldn't help it.

"S-so you can see me?" her voice came out quiet and shaky. He continued to lead her out the door and through the hallway.

"Well yes, although you are see through rather like a ghost." He informed her. _'That'll explain why those two men before mentioned ghosts then.'_ She thought to herself. "Tell me, have you eaten a devil fruit by any chance?" he asked as they approached the room where she had been held earlier.

"The only fruit I remember eating are the pears I took earlier. I didn't get to eat the apple though." She said truthfully, however that answer was obviously not what he was after because he dug his fingers into the back of her neck getting a whimper out of her. Once again Ayla could feel the annoyed aura coming off of him. He opened the door and roughly pushed her inside; she fell forward and was meant to catch herself however her right leg got caught on her left and she tripped. She heard the door close and a light turned on.

Ayla lay on the cold metal floor for a moment; she had hit her nose when she fell. "Ow…" she said into the floor. She slowly lifted her head up when she felt metal around her ankles. Letting out a surprise yell and whipping around, she heard a clanking noise as she pulled her legs back. She noticed the captain was crouched down with his elbows resting on his knees and was staring at her coldly. She then looked at her ankles and saw there were shackles around them. _'So that's what he took out of his cupboard,'_ she thought, staring at them. _'Who the hell keeps those in their cupboard!'_

"Why look so surprised miss? We really can't have you pull off a stunt like that again now can we?" He stood up all the while grabbing the front of her shirt and lifting her up with him. He slammed her up against the wall. "Why don't we start with names first?" He suggested smiling his smile. "I'm Trafalgar Law."

The thing that scared her the most about him, she decided, was the fact that he seemed so calm and polite yet his eyes and smile told her what a dangerous being he was and promised that he would harm her if she didn't co-operate with him. Not to mention he threatened to kill her if she tried anything 'funny' again.

"Ayla." She had tried to sound normal but her voice betrayed her and just came out as a squeak.

"Alright Miss Ayla, What are you doing on my submarine? Are you a spy, a thief or maybe just a regular stowaway?" He questioned. Ayla's mouth opened and closed not knowing what to say. She wasn't any of them really; even she didn't know what she was. What did you call someone who came to this world through a dream? Law frowned. She was taking too long to answer and his patience was already thin from her escape earlier. Ayla watched as his other hand reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a scalpel. He twirled it around in his fingers in front of her face.

"Are you going to answer willingly or will I have to force it out of you?" He asked. Ayla's eyes widened and she said the first thing that came to her head.

"I don't know." He glared.

"The question is simple. Are you a spy, thief or just a dim-witted stowaway who didn't pay attention to the vessel they were boarding?"

"I-I told you I don't know!" she stuttered as the scalpel came to close to her neck for comfort. "I-" she started.

"You what?" the sharp metal object pressed against her neck lightly, a thin trickle of blood ran down.

'_Should I tell him? I'll sound like a complete nut-case but then again why should I care? I don't even know him and not to mention he's a bloody psychopath so he's pretty crazy himself in a way…' _She took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'm not from this world I'm from another and every night since I fell sick with a mystery illness, which was a few days ago, I've had these dreams where I wake up on this submarine and nobody has noticed me until recently when I became solid and now visible as well; when I fall asleep here I usually wake up back at home but this time I didn't and now I think I'm stuck; I call this place my dream world." She said in one long sentence, by the end she was gasping for breath. She watched as he took in what she said. She swallowed when he frowned at her, obviously he didn't believe her.

"I swear it's true! Why else would I be in my Pj's and have no clue what a…demon fruit? Is!" She quickly said.

"It's called a devil fruit." He dropped her on the ground. This girl certainly was odd; everyone had at least heard a rumour of a devil fruit in their life.

"I can tell you don't believe me so then I guess you could just consider me a regular stowaway seeing as I've never stolen in my life and I've never made a good spy when I played spies as a kid," She said quietly.

Law thought for a moment before putting the scalpel away in his pocket and watched as her body relaxed slightly from relief. He smirked and pulled out something else. There was something else he needed to get out of her, he crouched down and held up a familiar looking necklace in front of Ayla's face. Recognition showed in her eyes as she quickly looked down at her chest where she usually found her favourite necklace. It wasn't there.

"How'd you get that?" She demanded angrily, forgetting for a moment about what this man could do to her.

"Now don't go getting angry Miss Ayla. You left it lying around out on deck. But that's not the point. What I want to know is where you got it."

"I don't see how any of that is your business!" she said confused

"Oh trust me it is." When he started reaching into his pocket again for the scalpel Ayla quickly answered.

"Um well I bought it at a garage sale last year." She informed him, still of course confused, why would he want to know about her necklace? Law looked at her, at least this time the answer was believable. He stood up.

"Thank you for your co-operation, in the next day or two we'll be arriving at an island to get the submarine fixed. And because you answered everything, even though it sounds like a load of crap, I'll consider leaving you there. However if you annoy me at all during the rest of your stay you can guarantee that you won't leave this submarine alive." He threatened and looked at the shackles around her ankles. He bent down and undid one then attached it to the old bed frame. He made his way to the door when Ayla called out after him.

"Can I have my necklace back?" She asked. He stopped.

"I'll think about it."

"And is there any heating in this room? It's freezing in here and…"

"And?"

"Leave the light on." She finished, looking at him pleadingly as he turned it off.

"I don't like being told what to do Miss Ayla. Do I have to remind you that until we reach the next island you are a prisoner on board this submarine, however I'll ask someone to turn the heating on. Enjoy your stay." He said closing the door and leaving her in darkness.

Ayla sighed, a finger running across the small cut she had recieved, and leaned against the wall as she heard the door being locked. _'At least I'm still alive…'_


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok I got the next chapter done! :D Being back at school sucks because I can't write often D: Anyway I'm not sure if I'm actually happy with this chapter, I went through it a after I finished it and changed a few things but I'm still not sure whether I like it or not…Oh well XD I've already started the next chapter too :) And I still have plenty ideas :) It will just take a long time to get done -_-**

**Enjoy! :D**

For Ayla the next couple of days were very boring and mostly uneventful. The only partly interesting thing was when she started banging her head on the wall behind her out of boredom and Trafalgar Law just happened to be able to hear it. He had come in to tell her off and said she had one warning and on the next she'd more than likely be dead.

Like Law had promised, he had got someone to turn the heating on so now the room wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been but still uncomfortable non-the-less. After all, being shackled to an old, heavy bed frame by one ankle wasn't what Ayla considered comfortable by far. She could barely move from the position she was in already, her knees bent to so that she could rest her head on them if she wanted. She could stretch the unshackled leg out but that was about it; she couldn't even cross her legs without one knee hitting the bed. The chain linking her to the bed was just too short, it was meant to link one ankle to the other or one wrist to the other not an ankle to a bed post! _'I bet that's what that jerky psychopath wanted!' _she thought angrily and arched her back, stretching it. She was getting sore from sitting like that for such a long period of time.

At least they remembered to bring her some food (fruit, bread and maybe something leftover from a meal) and water. Ayla sighed and rested her head against the wall; she really had no clue what time of day it was or _which _day it was. Was it the day after her little interrogation or the second day, the day they were supposed to arrive at the island they were let her off at. Time seemed to pass so slow cooped up in the dark like she was. And what would she do when she did get onto the island? She didn't have any of her dream worlds money, she was in her pyjamas (though that was the least of her worries) and she didn't even know the laws of this place. She could easily do something wrong and not even know it. What if they we're big on death penalties here? Ayla shivered despite the now warm room. She really needed to stop being so worried about everything.

Her thoughts had been going on like this for a while when she heard the click of the lock and light flooded into the room. She brought an arm up to cover her eyes; they had become adjusted to the dark after being in there for so long _'I guess that's how a bat kind of feels when you shine a light on it.' _She thought as her eyes adjusted to the light. The man in the green and pink hat that reminded Ayla of a bubble or balloon and who had also been the one to bring her food a couple times, Benji, walked into the room with some keys in his hands. He knelt down next to her and unlocked the shackle from her ankle.

"We're at the island, you can leave now." He said before walking out the door and leaving her still sitting on the floor. Ayla slowly stood up and stretched, she rolled her newly unshackled ankle around in circles before walking out the door. She saw some of the men going in a particular direction and followed them, she had forgotten the way out. She walked out the door after the other men she had followed and looked at the sun for the first time since she had been caught. She shivered as a cool yet refreshing breeze blew past.

Ayla looked at the island they had arrived on, the town was milling with people buying products from what looked like a market place. Children clung onto their parents and were dragging them around pointing at things and more than likely saying 'I want it!'. The island itself looked nice and calm with tree covered mountains towering behind the village. _'I guess it wouldn't be a bad place to live, the weather seems to be alright as well, it wouldn't be that bad to settle in here…I just need to get a job to earn some money which reminds me I need some anyway to get started…' _Ayla looked around for the spotted hat captain. She noticed a fair part of the crew was wandering around town already and she hoped he wasn't.

"And what are you still doing on my submarine Miss Ayla?" A smooth voice from behind asked. Ayla gave a yell and whipped around. Trafalgar Law was standing behind her with that cocky smirk on his face, now that she had found him, or rather, he had found her she found it hard to ask him what she wanted-well needed was more like it.

"I-" her mouth opened and closed a couple times_ 'c'mon just ask already!'_ He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Ayla took a deep breath and blurted it out,

"I need some money!" She said quickly without looking at him. "Please?" she hastily added.

"And why should I give you any, hm?"

"W-well, I don't have any and without money I can't do anything! I would just need enough for food and a place to stay!" She explained nervously.

"To tell you the truth I don't really care," he pulled a bag out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I don't know how much is in there but if you use it up then that's it unless you can find a way to get more and fast." He smirked. "Now get off before I take it back to save me from going back inside for more."

Ayla stared at it, she hadn't actually thought he'd give it to her that easily but then again he was unpredictable from what she knew. "Thank you so much!" she said before leaving.

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Ayla wondered around the streets of Blossom Isle, as she had found out it was called. _'It's a nice name and a nice place.' _She thought, looking around at the many trees and bushes lining the streets that were covered in flowers. _'It must be spring here or something.' _She felt the bag of money in her hand; she needed to figure out what the currency was here and how it worked. When she had looked in the bag earlier all the coins and notes were unfamiliar to her. She figured she would just ask the person she bought something from.

Ayla looked around at all the different shops, there were many clothe stores, stalls that sold food, restaurants and weapon shops? Ayla stopped outside it, looking in the window she saw swords, pistols, axes and many other weapons she couldn't even name. _'Wow they sell all that sought of stuff here? And those pistols look really old like the one's pirates used back in the real world. How far is this place behind in technology? Actually come to think of it, I haven't seen a single car, truck, motorbike or plane at all. Just old looking ships and of course the submarine…' _her thoughts were interrupted by a young man talking to her; he had come out of the shop and noticed her staring.

"Can I help you with anything? Are you looking for a good quality katana or-"

"Oh no thanks I was just looking, I don't want to buy anything."

"You sure? Alright then." The man shrugged and began to walk back inside when she remembered her issue with the currency.

"Um wait; there is one thing you can help me with!" Ayla said stepping into the weapons shop after him. He turned his head to look at her. "Well, I…um…could you be able to tell me about the how the currency works here?" She held up the bag of coins and notes. He looked at her weirdly.

"The money is all the same throughout the world," He said.

"Well what's it called?" He gave her an even stranger look.

"Berri." He turned around and went to sit behind the counter.

"Thanks." Ayla turned to leave, she was going to figure out the rest through buying things, she should probably find a place to stay first then get food.

"Where're you from?" The man suddenly asked, Ayla turned to face him. _'Damn I can't tell him that! If I want to live here I can't have everybody I meet thinking I'm a complete nutter!' _

"I ah-"

"You have an accent I've never heard before and we have a lot of travellers come through here. And then there's also the fact that you don't know what the worlds money is called." He mused. "I know! You've lost your memory somehow haven't you!" he blurted out, coming over to stand in front of her again. This surprised Ayla but when she thought about it, it would make the perfect story so that she could start a new life. She played along.

"Yeah, I guess I have." She lied. "However I can remember my name."

"And that is…?"

"Ayla." She introduced.

"Well I'm Kevin." He grinned. "You know if you need a place to stay or anything you could sleep in the spare room in my house." Kevin offered. Ayla wasn't sure whether she should trust him or not; he seemed nice but she didn't know him. _'C'mon Ayla stop being so paranoid about everything! Just accept and at least then you won't have to waste-what was it called again? Berri? - on a place to stay…' _Ayla put on a small smile.

"That'd be great thanks." She said quietly.

"No problem, I like helping people. If you'll follow me I'll show you to the spare room." He said walking out the back of the weapons shop. Ayla, though hesitantly, followed.

"So you live at the back of your shop?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's just easier that way." He said as he opened a door. "This is my spare room." The room was small but nice. It had a comfy looking single bed with a bedside table next to it and a chest of drawers on the other side of the room. _'A hell of a lot better accommodation than on that submarine!' _She thought happily.

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A couple days had passed since Ayla had met Kevin. He really was very nice and seemed very trustworthy. He even seemed to be concerned about her safety, he had given her a knife to carry around with her because 'pirates frequent this town a lot' as he had said and she could need it for self defence, though she had no idea how to use it. She had also found out that he was 19 years of age and had a sister around Ayla's own age. However she had gone on away on a trip and wouldn't be back for a few weeks.

Right now Ayla was wondering around the town looking for new clothes. She had borrowed some of Kevin's sisters but it wasn't her style (a dress with puffy sleeves), it was much too girlish for her liking and rather uncomfortable. The sleeves were itching her slightly.

He had taught her all about the currency and filed her in on all this stuff about this world. It was the great pirate era and the island she was on was located in the first half of the Grandline. She had asked him about devil fruits and what they were; when she found out she realised why Trafalgar Law had asked her if she had eaten one…

A stall on the side of the road caught her eye. She paused and looked at all the jewellery before walking over to look at the bracelets.

"Can I help you?" the lady behind the stall asked.

"No thanks, I'm just looking." She answered. She was looking at the woven bracelets, her favourite type. She glanced over at the necklaces when she realised something, _'Shit! I completely forgot to get my favourite necklace off of that guy!' _her eyes widened. _'He should still be here considering I've seen a few of his crew wondering around today.' _She hurriedly ran off to find the place where she had last seen a large group of his men.

After getting lost and wondering around for an hour she finally came across the place. It was a bar or tavern and by the looks of it and they were still in there. Entering, she found the captain himself at a table with the bear, Kiga and Benji. _'Alright you can do this. He has no right to keep that necklace.' _Ayla took a deep breath and marched up to the table before slamming a hand down to catch their attention. They looked at her and recognition sparked in their eyes.

"Well if it isn't Miss Ayla. What are you doing here?" Law asked and as usual he had that cocky smirk on.

"I want my necklace back!" She growled. "Give it over! Now." Law rose up from his seat with a frown on his face.

"I do believe that I told you I don't take kindly to being told what to do." He said coldly.

"Yeah well I don't care! You had no right to keep it in the first place so give it here!" she held her hand out. He looked at her coldly.

"This is what you want right?" He asked pulling her necklace out of his pocket and dangling it in front of her face. Ayla reached to grab it but he pulled back. "It's not very nice to snatch Miss." Anger flared through her; she wanted it back! It was the only connection-besides her old PJ's-that she had to her old life and she would get it.

"Hey!"

"I'm afraid that it's mine now." He stated.

"What! No way just because you found it on your deck doesn't mean it's yours, it belongs to me and it's special."

"Well that's too bad Miss Ayla because you see, we're pirates and we steal. I don't care if it was yours before because it's mine now." Ayla glared at him. _'He's a pirate? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised because of what I saw on that submarine and then he does have that mark…And Kevin said it was the great pirate era. I guess it all fits now.' _

"Fine!" She kicked him in the shin as hard as she could before snatching her necklace out of his loosened hands from the distraction. She could feel the anger coming off of him as she ran out the bar doors and into the crowded streets.


	10. Chapter 10

Ayla ran though the streets taking random turns which she would probably regret later. She didn't look behind her to see if Trafalgar Law had followed, she just kept running. She was a good runner, always earning a place in her schools yearly cross country; she would come 2nd, 3rd or sometimes 4th but never 1st. But she really couldn't care less about the place she came, she ran because she simply liked running.

When Ayla thought she had taken enough twists and turns to lose the pirates if they had come after her, she stopped. Looking around she realised she hadn't been in this part of the town before. _'Typical now I'm lost, I knew I'd regret the whole random turn thing'_ she sighed _'I should've just headed back to Kevin's…'_ As she looked around, panting, she couldn't help but notice that the street she was in was a complete and total wreck. Buildings were burned, charred and some were smashed. The place had been completely destroyed; it was as if a fire had gone through. But the ruins of the building said that they hadn't been just burned but knocked down by something. Ayla noticed a large hole in one of the still standing walls; she went over and looked through it.

Looking inside she gathered that it was - or used to be – a house. The room was burnt but what caught Ayla's attention was a large round metallic ball sitting on the far side of the room. Frowning, she leaned into the hole further to get a closer look. Her eyes widened as she sucked a sharp breath in _'A cannon ball!' _Ayla backed out of the hole and looked at the ruined street. Now that she thought about it there were multiple cannon balls lying around. _'This place has been attacked. I can't believe I didn't notice when I was running…'_

When did all this happen? And how many people had died? She couldn't help but wonder. She was supposed to be in an age of pirates so had they caused this? As a kid Ayla had always been fascinated with pirates but now that she was looking at a disaster that could have more than likely been caused by them, she couldn't help but rethink everything about them. Sure she knew they did this but when faced with the reality of it all she understood why pirates were so feared. Ayla backed up into the middle of the street; she didn't want to stay in this part of the island any longer; she just couldn't.

Ayla's back connected with something, no _someone_. Whirling around, she saw none other than Trafalgar Law standing in front of her smirking. Seeing her eyes widen, he chuckled and walked towards her. For every step he took forward she took two back. His smirk widened as her back hit the wall she had been looking through before.

"I have to admit Miss Ayla you are a very fast and tricky runner. If I didn't have Bepo with me I might have actually lost you." He said and she noticed for the first time the polar bear standing behind him. He placed both of his hands on either side of her head and leaned down to stare her in the face. He was very tall; Ayla only came up to his shoulder. She just remained silent.

"You know, pirates are hypocrites; we steal from people however we don't like to be stolen from." He laughed. "So I would like my necklace back." his voice made shivers run down her spine. Ayla clutched _her_ necklace in her hand tightly.

"No!" she said quietly. "It's mine," she watched as he frowned. Ayla slowly slid her hand around the back of her dress. She lifted the back up slightly and clutched onto the knife in its holder that was strapped to her leg. She hoped he didn't notice.

"Maybe if you give it to me I'll consider going easier on you; after all I can't just let you get away with kicking me earlier can I?" He chuckled, the cocky smirk coming back onto his face.

"I said no!" Ayla was still defiant but was nervous about what he meant about 'not letting her get away with kicking him'. It would've hurt but hey she could've chosen to kick him somewhere else other than his shin; and it would have been a hell of a lot more painful.

"Fine, either way I still get it in the end." And with that one of his hands clasped around her upper arm in a tight grasp. Instantly Ayla pulled the knife out of its sheath, she had been lucky he hadn't grabbed that arm, and randomly slashed at him. Law caught her by the wrist before it touched him, his laugh sent shivers down her spine again. "My my attacking a pirate again, you must really have a death wish Miss Ayla."

She ignored him and brought her knee up to connect with her favourite place to hit her male enemies. His hands let her go as he doubled over. Ayla sprinted away, knife still in one hand and the necklace in the other.

"Room." Law grunted before she could get around a corner and the next thing Ayla knew there was a familiar blue sphere encasing her before she was being restrained by the pirate captain. _'Damn he recovered fast!' _ She thought as she struggled in his strong grip.

Ayla sunk her teeth into his arm which was wrapped around her torso attempting to immobilize her. He yelled out surprised and pulled his arm back out of reflex. She made a run for it again but he was too quick and slammed her against a wall; his hand around her neck.

"I guess it'll be too hard taking you back with me conscious won't it?" His smile was cold, his grip around her throat tightened, completely cutting off her air supply. "Hmph, well what do you know? You're not ghost like anymore" he observed. It was true, over the past few days she had become completely solid.

Ayla dropped the knife that was in her hand and brought it up to his wrist in an attempt to loosen his hold. Black spots began to cloud her vision and her hand's pull on his wrist became weaker. A choked sound came out of her mouth as the world around her became darker. The last thing she saw before completely blacking out was that cold, cocky smirk of his that she hated so much. Her hand loosely fell from his wrist and then her eyes opened again to see an unfamiliar room.

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Trafalgar Law let go of the unconscious girl and watched her slump to the ground. He stepped back yelling in surprise however when the annoying girl's body began fading away until it was gone completely. Bepo watched with his jaw agape.

"Captain what just happened?" the bear asked.

"I have no clue." Law answered as he kicked place where she had been seconds before only to feel his foot connect with nothing. "She's completely vanished; if she were invisible I'd be able to feel her." His eyes never left that particular spot for another five minutes. He stared as if she would reappear at any moment.

Finally he said, "Go back to the submarine."

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Ayla blinked and looked around, dazed. The place was white, cold, and smelt like a hospital. Her eyes widened at the realisation. She was in a hospital with some machines around her by what she gathered. Her body felt itchy all over, like the rash had spread to her legs. She also felt weak and when she tried to sit up she found that she couldn't, there were too many cords. She looked around at the many cords that connected her body to the machines, she recognised a heart moniter but that was it. They were in her nose, down her throat, her chest…almost everywhere. _'Am I actually back or just having a dream? I got knocked out didn't I? And the last time that happened I didn't come…'_ she was interrupted from her thoughts as a sob reached her ears. Looking, or doing her best to with the tubes and cords stopping her, in the direction it came from she saw her mum standing in the door way to her hospital room, a hand covering her mouth.

Her mother made her way to her and wrapped her in a hug, being careful of the equipment. Her mum was saying something that Ayla couldn't make out properly but thought it might have been something along the lines of 'oh my god Ayla' over and over again.

Ayla wanted to say something, that's all she wanted to do but the tube down her throat prevented her. She was back; she was home, in a hospital but still her home world. She had to be; it felt to real, her mother hugging her and talking and crying. Maybe Ayla's thoughts on that submarine had been correct after all. She had to check but couldn't speak.

It took a few minutes for her mum to calm down but then she drew away from her daughter and saw the confusion in Ayla's eyes.

"When I went to wake you, you wouldn't wake up, wouldn't respond. I panicked and called an ambulance and you were in a coma for the past few days. Oh my god Ayla I was so worried!" She finished. Ayla's thoughts had been right; she had gone into a coma after all. She'd been in a coma…that was a scary enough thought let alone reality.

"I need to go tell someone you're awake," Her mum told her having completely let go of her now and walking out the door. Not much time had passed before a doctor or nurse- _'more than likely a doctor…'_ Ayla thought grimly- came in, her mother in tow.

The doctor came over and did some tests. He asked her to follow his finger when he held it in front of her eyes; then wiggle her own finger. Annoying as these things were she supposed they were necessary. She didn't know much about comas but it made sense to check her level of consciousness and response to simple commands.

In the next few hours that passed she had been freed from the cord down her throat and had been talking with her mum, though her voice was very hoarse. She'd also discovered that her necklace was in her hand rather than around her neck like it had been when she fell asleep. As hard as she thought about it she couldn't figure out how it could have gotten there just like in her dream world. She'd asked her mum if she had placed it on her hand. Her mother's response was to shake her head and tell her she hadn't noticed it missing from her neck. It confused her in her still slightly dazed state so she eventually stopped thinking about it.

Later when her mum had to leave to go home-she promised to bring Ayla books and things to do tomorrow- Ayla was lying in the hospital bed alone in the room. Even though it was night –there was a window in her ward- she was wide awake…well trying to be. Her body was still weak and even though it had been asleep for a few days it got tired quickly.

After what happened the last time she fell asleep she wanted to prolong her next nap for as long as possible but it was hard, her eyes would start to close before she mentally slapped herself (some cords were still attached so she was unable to do it physically). _'Stupid weak body!' _She growled in her thoughts. No matter what she had to stay awake tonight, she had…her eyes drifted shut again. She snapped them open. _'I swear they put sleeping gas in the air here…'_ she thought while yawning.

This was gonna be a long night.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about not uploading in a while, its been like 4-5 months or something right? I've been really busy with school work (and still am so I don't know why I did this, its the middle of term and approaching exams and everything is due in and here I am writing this XD) **

**Ok so with all these awesome episodes with Law in them I am finding out new stuff, like the submarine is hot when it's underwater…I would have thought it was cold (dunno why). So now it's gonna be hot but I can't be bothered changing the chapters so yeah…. and names have been revealed! Penguin and Shachi! YAY so now I will use those names instead of Kiga (Penguin) and Benji (Shachi) but again I can't be bothered going back and changing it…maybe one day I might…Oh and seeing as its been a while it might be smart to read the end of the last chapter? On with the story~!**

And indeed it was. Fighting sleep with a weak body was a hard job; it felt like years had passed before a nurse came in to check on Ayla in the early hours of the morning. He had caught her in one of her attempts to not sleep; it didn't help when she yawned either. He'd told her that it was least likely she'd go into a coma again during her sleep if that's why she was fighting to stay awake. Least likely….how comforting…_'Oh you know nothin' mate…' _She'd thought, _'Who knows what'll happen,'_

"I don't want to sleep." She had told him out loud and that's how she ended up being injected with some sedative stuff that put her to sleep. _'Stupid nurse…."_ She thought before her body unwillingly shut down into unconsciousness.

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When she opened her eyes she was in that same damn dress she had been in when she left, however, she was no longer in the ruined part of the island she had stumbled upon. Instead she was, to her dismay, back on the submarine. She recognised the room as the one she had been locked in for her stay here, the only difference being that the door was a-jar; at least she wasn't locked in again. Standing up she opened the door the reminder of the way and peeked out. There was no one about from what she could see (which wasn't very far) or hear, for once it seemed she had luck on her side since the day she was discovered on the submarine. Leaving the room behind, Ayla walked around the quiet sub; the quietness gave it an eerie atmosphere, she'd never heard it this quiet before, not even at night when most of the crew were sleeping. She supposed they were all still on the island.

Ayla walked around the submarine looking for the exit again, she took a couple wrong turns and ended up in the galley once and in a random room. She eventually found it though, it was open and a cool breeze was flowing through, it messed with her hair when she went outside, some got into her mouth so she spat it out back out and pulled it away from her face. Hair wasn't very tasty in her opinion. She looked around and sure enough they were still docked at the same island, a couple members of the crew were on the deck, taking their shift of minding the submarine for the early part of the night while the rest of the crew were in town more than likely partying or something in a pub. They must have heard her come out too because they were staring at her, confused as to why the stowaway girl was had just walked out of their submarine. One of them frowned, coming back from the confusion,

"Oi! What're you doing back here?" He asked moving towards her. Ayla moved, she ran and jumped over the side and onto the docks, they tried to grab hold of her but she slipped right out of their grasp and disappeared into the surprisingly still rather crowded streets of the town.

She stopped running when the submarine was out of sight. She recognised the street and knew she was near Kevin's house and shop. Smiling she made her way back to the weapons store. The front to the store was locked up, a 'Closed' sign hanging from inside the door.

Ayla sighed, taking her shoe off and taking out a spare key she had been given for the back door. She never usually put keys in shoes but she didn't have a bag or any pockets and she would lose it if she held onto it; her only option had been a shoe. It had been a bit irritating at first but then she had just grown used to the feeling as she had walked around town.

Once inside she found Kevin with a mouth stuffed full of food. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her.

"Where the heck've you been?" He asked after swallowing. "I was getting worried, thought maybe some pirates got you or something"

'_They nearly did.' _She thought but didn't say it outloud. "Ah I'm fine, just got a bit lost is all." she offered a smile. It was part of the truth. While she had been running from the psycho pirate captain she'd ended up in a destroyed part of the island. Speaking of which, she wanted to ask him about that.

"Lost? Yeah I guess if you don't know the place the town can be a bit confusing. I should've given you a map," He laughed, spooning another mouthful of food into him. Ayla sat down while she waited for him to stop chewing.

"What happened to a part of this town? I came across it and it had been completely destroyed!" She asked when he had swallowed. Kevin paused for a moment.

"You got so lost you ended up in _that _part of town?" He got up and grabbed another plate from the cupboard. "That happened a few months ago. Remember I warned you about the pirates?" Ayla nodded. "Well, a few months ago there was an attack on the other side of town. A large crew of pirates raided it, we were lucky the marines had been on our side of the island that week. They got rid of the pirates however couldn't stop the damage happening. No one has bothered to really fix it after they removed the dead…Guess no one's gotten round to it yet,"

She sat in silence for a moment, digesting the story. "So pirates seriously caused all that? How many died?"

He shrugged, "dunno, 80 maybe more or less…This part of the town has become a little more crowded than usual. Survivors moved in." Kevin placed a plate of veggies and steak in front of her. "I don't mind though, good for business." He grinned.

"Thanks," she started eating right away. She was starving!

Ayla shivered as she wondered how much destruction that Trafalgar Law pirate had caused. He was certainly dangerous, just the aura he gave off almost made her insides freeze. She would never say out loud, not that she needed to, it was quite obvious, but she was scared of him. He was still on this island and what if he found her? He did say he couldn't let her get away with kicking him in the shin…not to mention she kicked him in other places after that; she also still had her necklace that she took back from him. For some reason he really wanted it. _'Probably just 'cause it looks like the tattoo on his arm.' _

When she had finished she stayed up late quizzing Kevin on the well known pirates in this world; she felt she needed to be well informed. There were the Whitebeard pirates, their captain was the strongest man alive…and very old; there were also the Red hair pirates and a couple others captained by Big Mam and Kaido. All four, she was told, were known as the four pirate emperors or Yonko. There were also the Shichbukai: seven pirates who are allied with the government. To Ayla they sounded like her worlds old privateers. He didn't mention anything about one certain Trafalgar Law though, so she felt compelled to ask.

"Do you know anything about a pirate called Trafalgar Law?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he's a pretty well known rookie pirate. I've heard some rumours and they aren't very nice. He's known as the 'Surgeon of Death'; to me he sounds like a psychopath." Well that sounded about right. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I just saw a poster of him and the bounty seemed really high, but if he's just a rookie I don't want to know those other pirates. Also I thought I saw a guy that looked like him. Maybe I just got paranoid."

"You don't wanna know any pirates, actually come to think of it…I did hear from a customer today that a crew had docked here. Maybe you're not paranoid." He grinned.

"Why're you grinning? I thought it wasn't good to meet a pirate!"

"It isn't, however they are good for business if they're not stealing. Pirates carry weapons. This is the best weapons store in this town, enough said." Ayla stared at him.

"You _want_ them to come here?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes they're good for business, other times…" he trailed off not needing to finish. "It all depends on their motives."

Ayla silently hoped they didn't come here of all places. Yawning, she got up and said good night to Kevin before going to get cleaned up (she was still a bit dirty from her escape from Law, she was glad Kevin hadn't noticed) and sleep.

Lying in bed, she wondered if she would wake up in the hospital again or stay here. She wasn't sure what she wanted; she hated the hospital but what if she went into another 'coma'? Ayla looked at her necklace before putting it back on the table placed next to the bed. It was broken so she couldn't wear it and if she slept with it in her hand it'd probably get lost amongst the sheets or broken even more. Within moments of the room going dark she was asleep.

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Ayla woke up to sunlight shining in her face when she rolled over. She groaned in annoyance, the sun was too bright for her still half asleep eyes. She wished there were curtains over the windows, and then she could sleep in…Ayla's eyes widened suddenly alert. She looked around and saw she was still in the spare room, not in the hospital. She hadn't gone back. Great, so was she going to wake up at each place randomly instead of every time she slept? That was not going to be good. She got up and grabbed the jeans she had found last night before going to bed. She had dug around in Kevin's sister's drawers and cupboard - all the while feeling a bit intrusive and rude – until she found something she wouldn't mind wearing. She only found the jeans and so she figured she could just wear them and her over-sized PJ shirt while she went out to get something else today. After putting them on she pocketed her necklace, planning on getting it fixed, quickly ate some leftovers from the night before and left after telling Kevin she was going out again. She hoped to high heaven she wouldn't run into Trafalgar Law or any of his crew.

Ayla made her way to the jewellery stand she had seen the previous day.

"Excuse me?" She got the attention of the lady behind it. "Are you able to fix a necklace?"

"Of course dear, it just depends on damage done." The older lady smiled. She took the broken necklace out of her pocket and handed it over. The lady examined it for about a minute. "I'm sorry hun but if your wanting the same chain you have no luck of fixing it. You could buy a new chain if you wanted though."

"Well I don't mind I just want to be able to wear it again, it's my favourite."

"We have a selection of different chains and cords. Which would you like?"

"I actually prefer cords to chains and they're a bit tougher." The lady pulled out a box filled with different sized and coloured cords and let Ayla look through them.

"So how much are they?" She enquired, eyeing just a plain black one, it's all she really needed; nothing fancy.

"20 belli," she wasn't sure whether or not that was expensive or not in this place but she didn't really care. She had a fair amount with her.

"I'll take this black one then."

"Would you like me to change the pendant over?"

"Ah yes please." The lady changed it and gave it back to her. Ayla payed her and went to find a clothing store.

"Have a nice day dear!"

As she was going down the street she fiddled with her necklace that was finally back around her neck where it belonged. She tucked it into her shirt before turning into a store that looked promising and not too expensive; it did say clearance sale after all. She was proved right which was good, she wasn't exactly a big fan of shopping and only did it when necessary or made too, it was usually the latter. She stopped at a rack that had some tank tops in different colours. There was red, blue, gray, green, yellow, black, white, pink...so many and they were all plain. Ayla chose a red one, along with a blue and a black one. They were all 15 belli each. There was a rack of over-shirts, with the sleeves rolled up, behind the tank tops. She wore those a lot back in her home world, she reached for a checked blue one and a red one. Deciding that would do her for tops and all she needed now was some pants - preferably jeans - and shoes, she went searching for them in the store. It turned out they didn't sell shoes and so she'd have to find another store but they had plenty of jeans and shorts. Ayla decided on a pair of plain dark coloured jeans. She hoped her small amount of money covered all this.

After trying them on, she paid and went to the shoe shop the clerk had recommended. It was a fair way walk to the centre of town; she passed a few of Law's crew and hid every time. At one point she ended up hiding behind a rack that was at a stall selling shoes. What was with all the stalls? Every day here it was pretty much market day Ayla figured. There was a pair of thongs **(A/N Flip flops, jandals, sandals whatever the heck you call them. Just going to say that if I say thongs I'm referring to shoes)** right in front of her face. When they passed, she got up and looked at the shoes. They had a greyish cameo pattern on them, they looked like some old ones she grew out of a few years ago; they had been her favourite too. Ayla looked for her size in them; she was going to get these! She eventually did find it and got them.

Now that she had her own clothes to wear besides her PJ's she felt better; she even changed in the public toilets. Feeling much better than before, wearing her blue tank top and the red over-shirt, Ayla went back to Kevin's for lunch. The sight that greeted her killed her mood immediately.

Why? Why was her luck so bad? What were the chances that this would happen? They were definitely low and yet…there stood none other than Trafalgar Law, his back was turned to her and he didn't know she was there yet. He was talking to Kevin and his overly long sword was on the counter between them. Kevin certainly looked alert, more than likely because he knew there was a well known rookie pirate captain standing in his shop with just a counter separating them. Ayla was about to disappear and go round the back when Kevin did the worst thing in this situation. He addressed her.

"Oh hey Ayla, can you go into the storage room and find one of those cleaning cloths?" Kevin asked, instantly drawing the unwanted attention of the pirate captain towards her.

Crap.

At least Kevin sending her out the back got her out of his way for now but now he knew where she lived. Not good.

"Yeah sure," She quickly ran past them and into the back to find the special cloths used to clean swords. What the hell was she supposed to do? Ditch the place until he left? He couldn't hang around here forever right? Ayla went back into the main shop and gave the new cloth to Kevin before going back into the house attached to his shop. A couple minutes later Kevin came in looking for something.

"Hey can you just go watch the shop while I'm looking for some spare change, the register is kinda lacking in it."

"Is that guy still in there?"

"Yeah, can you just watch him? You don't have to talk to him just make sure nothing disappears."

"I'm pretty sure it wouldn't make a difference if I was there or not. Isn't that guy supposed to be dangerous?" she stalled.

"Yes but you'll be surprised the difference it can make when someone's watching y'know." She rolled her eyes. For normal, everyday thieves maybe but a pirate captain? And one that was out to get her? No way.

"But-"

"Please?"

Grumbling Ayla gave in and went to stand just inside the doorway leading from the shop to the house with her arms crossed and alert. She locked eyes with Law's stormy one's, he had that annoying cocky smirk on his face.

"Been shopping miss?" came his voice. She ignored him and continued to stand rigid and watchful, ready to run should he move. "Y'know its bad manners to ignore someone."

"And it's also bad manners to threaten someone!" She retorted, not being able to help it. So much for ignoring him.

"Pirates don't exactly have the best manners now do they?" He smiled.

"Why are you here? You didn't somehow follow me did you?" She glared at him.

"Oh no this was just a very lucky coincidence, I needed to get a new cloth to clean my sword with," Lucky for him maybe. "And now I'm just waiting for my change. However I think I might just forget about that change if it means getting you, I didn't particularly like that little disappearing act of yours yesterday."

"I've told you before that I can't help I-"

"My men told me they saw you come out of my submarine earlier. If what you say is true then it's only a matter of time before you end up back on my sub again isn't it? Sometimes I don't mind waiting, I'm very patient however right now is not one of those times and I've lost all patience where you're concerned." As he spoke his smile turned into a scowl yet somehow it still looked cocky.

"So, I'll give you 30 seconds to decide to come with me now willingly or wait until you do your annoying appearing trick onto my submarine. If you don't decide I'll just drag you with me now."

**Haha not much Law in this chapter, sorry 'bout that. There should be more of him next chapter though, I started writing it already :3**

**and somehow I need to figure out how Law WON'T kill Ayla XD **


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